At least seven persons including four women, one of them a pregnant lady, were killed and 72 others injured when a bomb, planted by suspected Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam terrorists, ripped through a packed train near the Colombo on Monday.
The explosion occurred inside the Colombo-Panadura train just before it was to reach the Dehiwala railway station. The police, who blamed the attack on the LTTE, said the condition of the 13 injured was critical. The army immediately swung into action and took control of the situation. The explosion occurred inside the 5th carriage of the Panadura bound passenger train which left the Maradana railway station in Colombo around 4.25 pm. Video clips showed the roof of the compartment ripped apart by the impact of the bomb.
It is believed that a
parcel bomb was placed on the luggage rack in the train, police sources said. Many of the victims were office workers who were heading home at the end of the workday. The injured were taken to the Kalubowila Teaching Hospital and National Hospital, Colombo.
"Out of the seven bodies, six are kept in a hospital," a police official told PTI, adding that medical attention was being provided to all the injured. The security officials have been cautioning people not to pick up any unattended object and to inform the police about unclaimed packets in the streets or buildings fearing they could be bombs or other explosives.
On Saturday, security personnel defused two time bombs planted in passenger buses in Moratuwa and Ganemulla.